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Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Easy Caramelized Onions

The first time I had these onions was when my at-the-time-boyfriend-now-husband made carne asada for me. Mmmm mmm good! Now we make them to top hot dogs, brats and burgers. I think they would be great on a grilled pizza or even as a side dish- I know I've eaten them without anything but a fork!

This recipe is super duper easy with the ingredients being things that lots of people have on hand. They take a little bit of time- but it is well worth it!

Since this recipe is pretty much a canvas, it can be added to with the addition of spices or other liquids. Oh the possibilities!!

I do use beer to caramelize the onions. The beer cooks WAY down and the sugars in it get all yummy. But if you prefer not to use the stuff, you can probably sub in some chicken broth and about 1 tbl. or so of brown sugar.

How much of the beer you use is also up to you. You can use just half of one on a single onion, or use the whole bottle of you have enough time to really cook it down. You can also get 3 or 4 onions into just one bottle's worth of liquid.

Easy Caramelized Onions

1 onion (per every 2-3 people), sliced into half rings
6oz-12oz beer (whatever you have on hand should work- but try to stick with pale ales and lagers- I like Bass for this)
1 tsp. lemon juice (optional)
fresh ground black pepper (optional)
other spices like cumin (optional)

Put your onion slices into a saute pan- more onions = bigger pan. Pour the beer over the onions and add whatever spices you like to it.
That's right! We don't need any oil or butter for this!
Turn your heat up to low/ med-low and gently simmer the onions until the beer reduces down to a syrupy consistency and eventually isn't apparent at all. Make sure to stir occassionally at first and then more as the liquid evaporates to make sure the onions don't stick and burn.
Serve over hot dogs, burgers, pizza, carne asada- or just eat it on the side!